


Mark an Equal

by SailorSol



Series: Children of Prophecy [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aftermath, Families of Choice, Gen, Growing Up, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Post-Canon, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 09:32:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3204371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neville recalls the weight of a sword in his hand, so much lighter than the weight of responsibility.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mark an Equal

**Author's Note:**

> So this has turned into somewhat of a series.... Once again, all mistakes are my own.

Professor McGonagall comes to speak with Neville in person, two weeks after his eighteenth birthday. Neville is—not surprised, not exactly, but he hadn’t thought…

Well, his first thought _hadn’t_ been _she’s only asking because Harry isn’t coming back_. It wasn’t even his second or third thought, truth be told, but she is still sitting across from him, waiting for his answer. Neville recalls the weight of a sword in his hand, so much lighter than the weight of responsibility.

He says yes.

* * *

Gran is chuffed. Never in a hundred years had either of them imagined Neville might someday be Head Boy. That Neville would have _earned_ the title.

He’d been doing most of the work already anyway, Ginny points out on the train back to school. They share a dark smile, because setting up watches wasn’t all that different than setting up patrols for prefects. He’d just have to remind himself he was allowed to be prowling the halls at night and getting caught would only merit a brief nod from the professors.

Merlin, but the sorting makes him feel old. The hat doesn’t show any signs of fire damage, despite Voldemort’s best efforts only a handful of months ago; Neville is only slightly ashamed to admit that he didn’t pay attention to the hat’s song, but he’s too busy listening to Ginny and Dennis swapping increasingly lewd jokes as a group of second years look on with wide eyes.

He claps when the first Slytherin is sorted, and he isn’t even surprised when others follow his lead.

* * *

He helps a first year up as she trips through the portrait hole. He reminds the second years where the trick steps are located. The sixth and seventh years nod at him as they pass, and he can see their wands ever at the ready.

On Tuesday evenings, he has tea with Professor Sprout. She insists that he call her Pomona, and Neville finds that it isn’t that hard to do. They talk about her plants and they talk about the future and Neville realizes after their second meeting that they’re friends. It leaves him feeling off-balance, but in a pleasant sort of way that makes him feel warm inside.

* * *

Two weeks after Halloween, Neville makes the trek into Hogsmeade. He could have taken the passage to Aberforth’s, but the air is crisp and the sky is clear and he wants to revel in the freedom.

The town is nearly deserted; not like the previous year, but it is a cold weeknight and while the streets are brightly lit, they are empty. He slips inside the Three Broomsticks. Rosmerta smiles at him, and the headmistress gestures him to her table.

There is a glass of firewhiskey waiting for him, as if she knew he would be coming. She gives him a tight smile as they toast silently. The next two hours pass in a blur as she recounts tales of his parents’ time at Hogwarts.

For once, Neville doesn’t feel as if he’s being judged.

* * *

He spends Christmas at St. Mungo’s. He wouldn’t feel right, anywhere else. His parents still don’t recognize him, never will, but there is something gratifying in knowing their tormenters were dead, that Voldemort would never hurt anyone else’s family. A vicious sort of pride swells inside him, knowing he played a part in that, even without the weight of prophecy on his shoulders.

Lavender is the first to visit, making her way from the room she’s been staying in since the battle. Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones come by later with bottles of Butterbeer and hot scones. Hermione, Ron, and Harry are only there for a few minutes before Ginny and Luna join them and something eases inside Neville. These are his friends.

This is his _family_.

* * *

His last term seems to pass in a blink. The remaining members of the DA hold their own memorial service. It starts out a quiet affair, but then Seamus comes stumbling in through the passage from Aberforth’s carrying a crate of firewhiskey, Padma and Cho on his heels. Soon the Room of Requirement is filled with people swapping stories of the ones they’d lost.

Neville is content to sit to one side, Ginny on his right and Luna on his left. There are too many faces that should have been there, too many lives cut short. But they had gone into the fight knowing what it might cost, and none of those remaining will let their sacrifice be in vain.

* * *

Pomona isn’t ready to retire, and after a year back at school, Neville realizes he isn’t ready to stay at Hogwarts any longer. But they’ve already discussed the possibility of him taking on the job someday, and Neville knows he’ll always have someplace to return to.

For now, he has a flat in London. He spends his days training as an Auror and his evenings with friends. He still takes tea with Pomona on Tuesdays, and visits his Gran for Sunday dinner.

This isn’t the life he ever imagined for himself, but it is his and he is fiercely proud of it.


End file.
